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The story
During a live broadcast in the ‘Sanma no Manma’ radio lineup, Hello! Project newcomer Momoha Nagano appeared as a guest. When comedian Shoji Murakami glanced at her profile, he briefly mistook her for former Morning Musume leader Sayumi Michishige, as though she’d made a comeback — and the moment became a hot topic on 5ch’s Hello! Project board. Michishige, known for her catchphrase ‘Sasuga!’ (‘As expected!’), graduated from the group in 2014. The thread was topped by a reply reading ‘Are we having Chayu withdrawal?’ (using Michishige’s nickname ‘Chayu’), with opinions split over whether Nagano really resembles Michishige, and how she stacks up against other members who’ve drawn the same comparison in the past.
What people said
Murakami: Momoha…
Sanma: Momoha — that's her real name too, right?
Re: #2
This thread has been getting spammed non-stop since 4am today over on Ookami (the 'wolf' subforum) by a poster whose ID never has a zero in it — [China Electric – %] — run by ◆fveg1grntk, who manages the affiliate blog '℃-ute Faction Nanday.'
If you all post too, I won't have to talk to myself to bump the thread, so please keep posting.
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Nagano: I have a strong image in my head of 'the kind of idol I want to be.' I'm particular about that, and I'm trial-and-erroring my way toward it every day. Personally, I still feel like I have a long way to go.
— We'd love to hear about that ideal idol image.
Nagano: I guess it's an idol who lets fans enjoy themselves with genuine, honest feelings. And I want people to watch that growth process too. I look up to two of my Hello! Project senpai, Momoko Tsugunaga and Sayumi Michishige, so I want to become someone who combines the best, most admirable parts of both of them!
Mochi (Nagano's nickname)
Her ideal is 'someone who pursues cuteness until it becomes coolness —
an embodiment of fans' ideals'
— that's what she said in a separate solo interview.
> Nagano: Today I did my makeup looking at a photo of Michishige-san.
Being able to toss out a little fib like that so smoothly is next-level.
Murakami's also the one who once mixed up Angerme and Juice=Juice
> Nagano: Um, it's because I really like Michishige-san…
> Sanma: Right. You didn't just match it to Yantan (Young Town, the radio show), did you?
She should've said something like, 'Michishige-san was on Young Town for years, so I'm sure you're both familiar with her — but I myself am also a huge fan of hers—' here.
Well, that's only natural — she's from the generation that grew up after TV lost its power. She'd probably get more nervous standing in front of HIKAKIN (Japan's top YouTuber).
Isn't that Murakoshi?
Sanma's talking about the overall vibe, but
Shoji's saying 'they look alike, they look alike' because he's not even wearing his glasses.
Only the left eye looks alike.
Other than the left eye, she actually looks more like Reina Tanaka.
https://i.imgur.com/IHqsHFk.mp4
Lol, she's turning it into material
Well, but she probably doesn't know that much about her anyway…
Yeah, I figured as much.
I (posting here as 'Pore') also watched her up close recently at the TOYOTA event —
and she resembled Sayumi, who I've watched probably hundreds of millions of times, in her bearing, her silhouette, even her tiniest movements.
She's on a totally different level of resemblance compared to any member before.
I thought I was going to die.
@viscountgruner
She looks a little like my fellow hometown girl Mochi, aka Momoha Nagano. Did we know each other in a past life?
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HThYv5HbEAAc7ah.jpg
From the thumbnail I thought it was Ichika-chan, but when I opened it, it turned out to be Ogata.
Kitagawa looks like Michishige too.
looks like there's no risk of spit flying over.
a clear nod of respect to Sayumi Michishige, the symbol of pink —
and yet her member color isn't pink?!
Hello! Project management must be out of their minds.
Morons.
Can't help it — Tamenaga and Shimoitani already have pink.
They can't exactly strip it from them.
Airi Yamazaki.
Yep, debate settled.
I see…
So management can't really pull off something like handing Panda-san's green over to the rookie Yasuda-chan, huh.
Has that not come up yet?
Sayumi Michishige actually loved pink since she was little, but when she first joined Morning Musume, she got stuck as the yellow member.
The moment her pink-member senior graduated, she instantly evolved into the pink member.
Maybe Momoha Nagano is going to walk the exact same path as Sayumi Michishige.
Background and Key Points of This Topic
Sayumi Michishige joined Morning Musume in 2003 and later served as its leader, a popular member known for her catchphrase ‘Sasuga!’ (‘As expected!’) and her distinctive aura. More than ten years have passed since her 2014 graduation, but as this thread’s reactions show, she remains a Hello! Project senior whom newcomers are still readily compared to. In an interview, Momoha Nagano herself named Michishige and Momoko Tsugunaga as idols she looks up to, suggesting she may be consciously channeling that vibe — meaning Murakami’s momentary mix-up wasn’t simply a random error, but overlapped to some degree with Nagano’s own intent. At the same time, commenters in the thread pointed out that the claimed resemblance rests on limited factors like camera angle and makeup, and that other members have been compared to Michishige in the same way before — suggesting the debate says less about any one member’s actual resemblance than about just how powerful and long-lasting Michishige’s image remains across generations.
※This article is an excerpt and summary based on the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “[Great News] Shoji Murakami (71) Glimpses Momoha Nagano’s Profile and Mistakenly Thinks Sayumi Michishige Has Returned LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL“.
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